Award winning north Norfolk farm and cheese producer – JF Temple – have secured the efficiency of their business with Thinkingwisp.

A reliable internet connection is essential for JF Temple & Son to do everything from paying their staff to taking online orders. And having been let down by their conventional internet connection they were delighted by the alternative provided by Thinkingwisp wireless broadband.

Director, Dr Stephen Temple, said: “Our farm has always been in a gap in internet coverage, which is frustrating as a lot of what we do relies on the internet. While our farm cottage was getting speeds of 3-4MB on one side of the road our farm office was only receiving 0.5MB on the other side of the road.

“Two-and a-half years ago we improved the internet at our farm office by installing a second phone line but it still only delivered 2MB, so we decided to look into a faster service for the future.”

“We first discovered Thinkingwisp at the GreenBuild renewables event and while we were impressed by it at the time a signal wasn’t available in our area. Thankfully AF’s Thinkingwisp co-ordinator, Zoe Courtney, contacted us in the autumn to let us know that a new mast had been installed and we could now receive the service.”

Shortly after Stephen decided to opt for Thinkingwisp the service ‘saved the day’ by fast tracking its installation after J F Temple & Son was cut off from the internet, causing major problems for the business.

Stephen said: “The internet connection was cut off after the cable serving most of the village was accidently cut by workman, who were unable to reconnect us for more than a month due to technical issues.”

“This meant that we had no broadband which was a serious issue for our business. Without an internet connection we were unable to pay our staff’s wages (due to the new Real Time Information payroll regulations), register our calves or pay invoices through Sales Order Processing and Farm Business Manager. We were also unable to remotely control our AD plant and were missing out on online orders for our cheese business. We couldn’t even get a signal on our mobile phones as reception at our farm relies on a Vodafone Sure Signal booster that needs to be connected to the internet,” he added.

Thankfully Thinkingwisp stepped in by fast tracking their installation service.

Stephen said: “We are very pleased with Thinkingwisp, which is more than twice as fast as the speed we had before and consistently delivers 6MB download speed. It’s good to know we have a connection we can rely on, which is critical to our business.”

Tom added: “With the new internet connection things are quicker and less frustrating. This is particularly useful for farm packages like Gatekeeper, which rely on regular updates and online backup.”

Norfolk celebrated a £17.9 million Better Broadband for Norfolk deal this week, which will see 90% of the county receiving fast fiber broadband. But what about the remaining 10% of the county who will miss out at a time when internet access is essential to every aspect of business and home life?

Thinkingwisp is providing the solution. As the service is wireless, homes and businesses can benefit even if they are in an area that will not benefit from the Better Broadband for Norfolk programme.

Award winning north Norfolk farm JF Temple & Son, who are also well known for producing Mrs Temples Cheese, are one company who have secured the efficiency of their business with Thinkingwisp.

A reliable internet connection is essential for JF Temple & Son to do everything from paying their staff to taking online orders. And having been let down by their conventional internet connection, which was cut off for more than a moth due to damaged lines, they were delighted by the alternative provided by Thinkingwisp wireless broadband.

Stephen said: “We are very pleased with Thinkingwisp, which is more than twice as fast as the speed we had before and consistently delivers good download speed. It’s good to know we have a connection we can rely on, which is critical to our business.”

Thinkingwisp is a member of the Digital Divide campaign which continues to fight for better connectivity in rural areas and to demand faster improvements. The group, who visited Westminister in September, is led by Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman and partners include Anglia Farmers, the CLA, the NFU, the Federation of Small Businesses and Local Enterprise Partnerships.

Come and meet the ThinkingWISP team at Greenbuild, the region’s biggest green lifestyle event, being held at Felbrigg Hall, near Cromer, on 6 & 7 September.

With a wide range of exhibitors, Greenbuild showcases everything from renewable technologies to sustainable construction techniques and gives information on green building and renovation, gardening and saving energy.

On the ThinkingWISP stand you can benefit from FREE WiFi, discover if you can get connected to our fast, local broadband service and discuss the benefits of broadband to the environment.

Jon Clemo, CEO of Norfolk RCC, who are one of the organisations behind ThinkingWISP, said: “Broadband has huge potential to reduce the use of cars, particularly for people in rural areas. This is an opportunity to save costs for people, alongside reducing CO2 emissions and providing better access to services.”

With road transport accounting for 31% of Norfolk’s total CO2 emissions broadband clearly has a big part to play in helping the environment. In fact, a study by FTTH Council Europe claimed that high quality broadband services can save up to the CO² equivalent of driving a car for 4,600 km per year – for every household!

More Norfolk homes and businesses which were struggling in ‘internet not spots’ can finally get the broadband they need after ThinkingWISP installed new masts to deliver their wireless internet service in the Bunwell, Long Stratton and Easton areas.

Thanks to continual investment and demand ThinkingWISP is now available in more than 90% of Norfolk as well as much of Waveney.

“ThinkingWISP was launched two and a half years ago in the Aylsham area to deliver much needed broadband in rural areas and the service has expanded rapidly due demand. I am delighted that homes and businesses in theBunwell, Long Stratton and Easton area can now benefit,” said Norfolk RCC Chief Executive, Jon Clemo.

The need for better rural broadband has been underlined by a Norfolk Rural Community Council poll.

A recent survey has found that 84% of respondents have a lack of broadband access which they consider insufficient/a problem, with only 4% saying that they were ‘well connected with good access to services and communications linking people to jobs, health and other services.’ More than 60% of respondents said that lack of broadband was an ‘important’ or ‘very important’ issue.

Wireless internet provider ThinkingWISP could help. The service delivers reliable broadband across 90% of Norfolk and much of Waveney and as the broadband is broadcast wirelessly and picked up using a small aerial, homes and businesses can benefit even if their location means that their current internet speed is very slow.

ThinkingWISP offers a choice of home and business packages ranging from 3 to 10Mbps from just £15.99 per month. The internet speeds are not ‘up to’ speeds, but actual speeds which will be received, which is backed by a 30 day money back guarantee. A BT line is also not required, giving a further opportunity to save line rental costs.

One Anglia Farmers member who is benefiting from ThinkingWISP is former AF director, Jim Alston, who farms in Calthorpe, North Norfolk. Before signing up to ThinkingWISP Jim received an internet speed of just 1Mbps but with ThinkingWISP he now reliably receives an internet speed of 6 Mbps.

Jim said: “The speed and reliability of my broadband connection is much improved with ThinkingWISP. Slow internet is no longer a problem with ThinkingWISP and I would recommend it to other members. It’s been a reliable service and works at a speed that means we can do everything we need to on the internet.”

Rural broadband provider ThinkingWISP has stepped in to re-connect a village which was without internet connection for more than four weeks.

Some 200 people in Lyng, Norfolk, had been unable to access broadband since the middle of May and while a replacement service was in place, it was so slow that many people could not even open or send an email.

ThinkingWISP stepped in and purchased the assets so that it could help to get the villagers back online.

ThinkingWISP’s Steve Temple said: “We put in a mobile mast to run a temporary feed until the fibre connection gets back online. We have been working hard to reconnect these people as quickly as we can.”

ThinkingWISP is a next generation wireless internet service provided by Norfolk RCC, AF Affinity and InTouch Systems. It offers a fast way to connect to the internet without the speed, cost or service restrictions of traditional solutions. As it is wireless, you can even benefit if your current internet speed is very low because of where you live.

ThinkingWISP covers 90% of Norfolk and does not require a landline.

We will be writing to all the customers next week with new DD forms and any other relevant information.

ThinkingWISP is receiving praise from its growing number of customers across Norfolk and north Suffolk.

Charlie Mack, who is an agricultural consultant for Brown and Co, installed ThinkingWISP at his farmhouse in Hempstead, near Holt, in March and has been delighted with the service.

Charlie said: “The wired broadband I was getting through Sky delivered just 0.4Mbit/s, which meant that I couldn’t use the internet efficiently. With ThinkingWISP I get a good connection and have opted for the 3 Mbit/s package.

“Installation was convenient and the engineers did a good job. My internet service has improved a lot and I can now stream sports, watch YouTube and use the internet more efficiently on a day-to-day basis. I am very pleased with the service, its good value for money, and I would recommend it to anyone in the rural community.”

Paul Mace is another customer who has had ThinkingWISP installed at his home in Thurlton, near Loddon, recently. Paul said: “I used to get less than 1Mbit/s of internet speed in one room of my house but with ThinkingWISP I get 3Mbit/s and could have opted for a faster package.”

“Due to the improvement in internet speed, ThinkingWISP could enable people to work from home when this may not have been an option before.”

“I have recommended ThinkingWISP to other people in rural locations because being a long way from an exchange means that you are hugely disadvantaged. ThinkingWISP cuts out that problem and doesn’t rely on a landline. This enables you to have speeds that are enough to make significant improvements.”

Due to the need for fast, local broadband ThinkingWISP, which was launched in the Aylsham area a little over two years ago, has steadily expanded and now covers 90% of Norfolk, as well as much of Waveney (see coverage map on this website.)

Thanks to new masts, ThinkingWISP is now able to provide fast, local broadband across 90% of Norfolk, allowing even more homes and businesses to benefit.

As it is a wireless system, you can benefit even if location means that your current internet speeds are very slow. A BT line is also not required, giving a further opportunity to save line rental costs.

Are you in our expanded coverage area?

*Provision of service is subject to site survey. Although we try to make our maps as accurate as possible, the information is only a guide and doesn’t guarantee service availability in a particular location.

Two new masts have extended coverage of high-speed, rural broadband across west Norfolk and into Cambridgeshire.

The new ThinkingWISP masts in Outwell, near Wisbech, and at Gayton, near King’s Lynn, mean that homes and businesses in the area can benefit from fast broadband.

ThinkingWISP provides broadband packages to suit a range of residential and business needs. The fast broadband service uses existing commercial masts and is now available across 90% of Norfolk and is extending into Suffolk.

The system uses wireless technology to transmit an internet connection, which is picked up by customers using a small aerial.

As it is a wireless system, homes and businesses can benefit even if location means that current internet speeds are very slow. A BT line is also not required, giving a further opportunity to save line rental costs.

The service offers speeds from 3 to 10Mbps and those are not ‘up to’ speeds, but actual speeds which will be received, which is backed by a 30 day money back guarantee.

Are you in our expanded coverage area?

*Provision of service is subject to site survey. Although we try to make our maps as accurate as possible, the information is only a guide and doesn’t guarantee service availability in a particular location.

Thinking wisp is a trading name for Thinking Rural CIC (Company No. 06361946)

This project has been supported by the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). The Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) is funded by DEFRA and the EU. RDPE is delivered through DEFRA. EU Rural Development site